Fermented Kale

[mike]

Does anyone know if Kale can be fermented/cultured alone? I wanted to
get started with fermenting at home but did not have cabbage or
carrots so I tried kale alone.....any help or advice is much
appreciated

[Stacie Boschma]

I think in one of Sandor Katz's books he talks about an Asian method of pickling greens where you rub them down with salt and then press the leaves (as flat as you can make them) until there's a thick sheaf of salted, damaged leaves. Kale of course isn't one of the flatter greens around. Maybe using a clean brick as a weight might help.

If I recall the idea correctly, the leaves will disperse their liquids the way cabbage does and eventually be covered in their own brine. Then ferment as normal. I just got several rows of kale, spinach, and mustards planted and was planning to try this method, so if you do please share your results.

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"I have had the wind knocked out of me, but never the hurricane." Jeffrey McDaniel

[Cathy Smith]

Mike, I think your kale will turn out just fine. Did you add anything to
it? Just salt? Garlic?

I haven't done kale by itself (except in a nuka pot, where whole kale leaves
turn absolutely delicious in just a day), but there's no reason it won't
work.

Assuming you already have it going on your kitchen counter, I'd treat it as
a kraut and let it ferment for awhile before trying it. Because of kale's
sturdy texture, I think you may want to let it get pretty sour so that it's
easier to eat.

Once I did a kraut that had kale, cabbage and apples in it. It had more
kale than cabbage, and the three of them together tasted amazing.

Let us know how it turns out!

-cathy in Oregon

[mike]

Thank you Cathy - it's been sitting since Saturday ( just chopped it
up small and added a little water). I opened the jar today and it is
definitely fermenting quickly. I decided to add some salt to the
mixture, so I unpacked the jar and mixed in some salt....then repacked
it. I will post my results soon!

[Annemieke]

I ferment kale a lot, and to great effect. As follows:
Strip kale of the thick stalks, cook till done. Squeeze out water.
Weigh. Per 500g. cooked kale, add 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp yoghurt or 1/2
tsp kefir. Let sit in the kitchen for 48 hours with (double) bag of
water on top. Remove bags, lid on, put in fridge. This will keep in my
fridge for about 3 weeks. My neighbourloves to eat it cold; I warm it
up to lukewarm (60°C max, on radiator or something) and have it with
hot food. Yum.